Reversible ironing board cover



Jan. 13, 1942. w J ALLABACK 2,269,804

REVERSIBLE IRONING BOARD COVER Filed April 1, 1941 HG WILLlAM J. ALLABACK INVENTOR K v ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 13, 1942 REVERSBLE IRONING BOARD COVER William J. Allaback, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Fraser Products 00., Detroit, Mich. 1

Application April 1, 1941, Serial No. 386,298

3 Claims.

This invention relates to ironing board covers, and, particularly, to the type thereof which are reversible, by which when one side thereof becomes scorched or dirtied, the same may be reversed to present a clean side for use.

It has been observed in the field of manufacturing ironing board covers that, while the same have long been known and used, there have been certain definite disadvantages connected therewith. The principal of these disadvantages has been a matter of shaping the covers to fit the end of the ironing board with which used. In order to provide that the cover would fit boards of a variety of shapes, it has been customary to make the covers of loose and indefinite shape. Whenever any shaping of the end of the cover, which was intended to go over the narrow end of the board, has been attempted, it has been thought necessary to make the said end large and to leave provision for lacing the same most of the way to the end of the board or else to permit wrinkles and folds to appear on the ironing surface. It has, accordingly, long been desirable to provide an ironing board cover which would fit an ironing board smoothly and without wrinkles, and yet which could be adjusted to fit a large variety of shapes and sizes, all with a minimum of lacing.

It has also been observed, in the practice of using ironing boards, that it is convenient and desirable to place a pad on said board to make the same slightly soft and yielding. However, it has been inconvenient and a source of much wasted time to have this pad separate from the cover and, accordingly, to require separate handling.

Accordingly, the principal object of my invention is to provide an ironing board cover which is both shaped to fit the ironing board with which it is used and also provided with adjustability by which the same will fit snugly and smoothly onto ironing boards of a large variety of shapes and sizes.

A further object of my invention is to provide an ironing board cover which may carry a pad therewith.

A further object of my invention is to provide a mean for associating an ironing board cover with a drawstring by which said cover may be drawn tightly onto the ironing board in a manner by which it will lie on said ironing board smoothly and without wrinkles.

A further object of my invention is to provide a means of associating a drawstring with an ironing board cover in a manner by which the sam may be loosened to permit the cover to be removed from said ironing board without requiring tedious and time consuming unlacing of said drawstring.

Further objects and advantages of the within described and disclosed construction will beapparent to one familiar with the art.

In the drawing;

Figure 1 represents a plan View of the ironing board cover from the under side thereof.

Figure 2 represents a section taken along the line 2--2 in Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 represents a cutting plan for either of the two pieces of fabric which form the principal part of the cover.

Figure 4 shows a cutting plan for each of the end pieces of said cover.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly 0 Figure 2, it will be seen that the cover is made of two pieces of material, as indicated at l and 2, which are foldedlto form turned back portions 5 and 6 and held together by seams I2. A padding made of quilted cotton or similar suitable material is shown at 11 inserted between said members I and 2.

It is obvious, of course, that in the event that no padding is desired member 2 may be omitted together with padding H and member I retained for use as hereinafter shown and described. Accordingly, it will be understood that the principal novelty disclosed by this invention, namely the shaping by which the same may be fitted tightly and smoothly onto an ironing board, may be secured equally'well whether the cover is used double and with a pad as shown, or whether it is used singly with only member I.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is here shown a cutting plan forboth of the members I and 2. By it the fabric is out at substantially the length of the average size ironing board upon which it is desired to be used and of a width approximately 10 or 12 inches wider than such an ironing board. The corners I-f are preferably rounded for the smooth operation of the drawstring. The double curve indicated by numerals I--a and lb is made substantially in the shape as shown, and terminates in smoothly rounded end lc. The piece, after cutting, is folded on the broken lines l--d and l-e, which are located to coincide with the respective sides of the ironing board and by which are made fiaps 5 and '6. The curve at la. is made so that after the folding on lines l-d and l--e, all or most of the curved portion will appear on the flaps 5 and 6.

Figure 4 shows a cutting plan for the pieces 3 and 4 by which is made a pocket on the end of the cover which slips over the small end of the ironing board. It will be noted, with respect to these members, that the sides 3-11 and 4-11 respectively are merely cut in a smooth curve which together at least suggest a parabolic shape. The curves 3b and 4b are cut to fit smoothly against the curved portions I-a shown in Figure 3 after the flaps 5 and 6 are formed by folding on the broken lines IZ and I-e. Curves 3-c and -0 are cut to fit against curves Ib and I--c of Figure 3 to make a neatly formed end on the pocket portion of the ironing board cover. Sides 3-d and 4-d are cut to fit against each other smoothly and precisely.

The above described portions are then fastened together at seams I, 8, 9, I0' and I I. It has been found advantageous to fasten these by sewing them with a form of fast-color bias binding but any other manner of fastening these pieces together will be found satisfactory. A binding I2, into which there has been inserted a cord I3 to constitute a drawstring, is then sewed around the entire free edge of said cover. An opening is provided at I2a in said binding I2 for the two ends of cord I3 to emerge. Openings I4 are provided'in fiaps 5 and Band the two ends 01' cord I3 laced through said openings as shown. Springs I6, having a hook portion at each end, are then placed as shown with respect to cord I3 to hold the looped portions together. It is obvious that any form of hook will be suitable, but springs are preferred for the reason that they provide some tension which serves to hold the cord tightly at all times. The free ends of the cord are then tied at I5.

To reverse the cover for placing the same on the ironing board with the other side exposed, it is necessary only to unhook these springs I6, slide the cover off the board, turn the fiaps 5 and 6 around to the other side of the cover and turn the portions 3 and 4 around to the other side of the cover by reaching under said portions 3 and 4 (into the pocket formed by said pieces 3 and 4) and pulling the tip of the cover inwardly in a manner similar to turning a glove inside out. The cover is then completely reversed and may be slid back onto the ironing board and the springs I6 replaced again to draw the cord I3 tightly under the ironing board by which to hold the cover firmly in place.

Obviously, an elastic member, either endless or broken, may be substituted for the cord I3 around the entire free edge of said cover. This will provide for ready snap-on of the cover and eliminate the use of springs I6 and openings I4.

It is thus seen that the change can be made quickly and easily and with the avoidance of tedious and inconvenient lacing. It will also be seen that by cutting the portions Ia, I--b and I-c as shown and associating them with the members 3 and 4, out as shown, the cover will fit snugly and without folds or creases onto an ironing board of any ordinary size or shape by which a variety of convenient applications is secured.

It will be obvious that many variations can be made in the structure of the above described cover without departing from the scope of my invention. By way of illustration, and not with any thought of inclusive enumeration, it might be said that such variations could consist in the omission of pad IT, together with member 2, as above suggested; the substitution of books for springs [6; the complete omission of member I6, accompanied by the lacing of one end of cord I3 so that the loops held by the spring I6 will interlock with each other; by the omission of binding I2 and the use of eyelets or rings in place thereof; and even by slight modifications of the shape of members 3 and 4, such as extending the portion of 3-b and 4-D farther along the sides of the cover, together with corresponding alterations of the cutting at points I--a. Other variations will appear to those skilled in the art upon careful inspection of the above specification together with the accompanying drawing, and some of such variations may even be improvements over my invention as herein disclosed.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as follows:

1. Side and end fiap construction for an ironing board cover of elongated rectangular shape and capable of reverse application to an ironing board and comprising in combination: a cut portion at one end of said cover member comprising a pair of cuts of which one is on either side of the center line of said cover member and of which each extends first at right angles away from said center line at the said end of said cover member and then curves smoothly toward said center line until said out lines are diverging only relatively slightly away from said center line and extending to reach a portion of said cover member substantially one-third of its length away from the above named rounded end, thence curving suddenly away from said center line on a diminishing radius to enter the sides of said rectangle at a wide angle, the sides of said cover member being folded along parallel lines which are each parallel to the center line of said rectangle and which lines are located to enter each of the above mentioned cutting lines at the points where said cutting lines commence to turn sharply away from said center line by which to form a flap on each side of said member; an end member defined by a line commencing at the intersection of the center line of the said cover member with the rounded end thereof and extending to coincide with one side of said rounded end portion to the point where the folding line of same intersects said cutting line and thence curving toward the center line of said cover member to follow the adjacent curved end of the adjacent one of said flaps in its turned over position to a point coinciding with the edge of said flap, thence extending back toward the point of beginning of the first named line and intersecting the center line of said cover member at a point spaced away from the said point of beginning a distance greater than the width of either of said flaps, thence extending to the point of beginning; another end piece of similar shape to the one above described in inverted position for application to said end on the other side of said center line,

r said end members being fastened to each other along their mutually contacting edges and being also fastened to said cover member along the mutually coincident edges thereof.

2. End and side flap construction for a reversible ironing board cover which has a substantially rectangular cover member having approximately one-third of its length, measured from one end thereof, of reduced width and tapering to a rounded and comprising: extended portions at the sides of that part of said cover member which is of full width being folded inwardly toward the center line of said member to form long and narrow flaps thereon, and said lines of fold being positioned to meet the outer extremities of the portion of reduced width; a pair of end pieces fastened to each other and to the entire outer periphery of the portion of reduced width of the first named member and to the adjacent ends of the above mentioned flaps by which to form a flap providing a continuation of the above mentioned flaps on the said portion of reduced width of the above mentioned cover member.

3. Side and end flap construction for a reversible ironing board cover, said cover being of relatively greater length than width and being of diminished width at one of its ends and said end being of rounded contour, comprising: long and narrow side flaps on the portion of said cover of full width; each side of the diminished width portion of said cover presenting together with the adjacent ends of the side flaps when the latter are extended a smooth elongated reverse curve and the points of reversal of direction of curve of each of said reverse curves being each located on an extension of the line of folding of one of said flaps; a pair of end members each having contour along the outer peripheral edge of each thereof to coincide with the peripheral curve of the portion of diminishing width and the adjacent ends of the side flaps of said cover member when said side flaps are folded; said end members being affixed to each other along a line on each thereof near the longitudinal center line of said cover member and being afiixed to said cover member when the said side flaps are in folded position along the said mutually coinciding curved edges of each of said end members with said cover member.

WILLIAM J. ALLABACK. 

